Health insurance rise pinching most people; Good News opportunities available this summer; Why is the local church valuable to believers

Good News for Today

Many of us are feeling the pinch of increasing health insurance costs. Your pastor is probably among that group. Over the past 10 years, the average family health insurance premium has increased 47 percent while inflation has been just 30 percent, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, an organization that compiles health care information.

Yet the U.S. health care system applies the greatest pinch to workers at the salary levels pastors often receive.

“The lowest-end corporate people” are suffering most, said Harold Roe, a health care benefits consultant in Nashville and co-founder of Employee Prosperity Partners, an organization that works with employers to increase employee wellness.

Roe suggests that independent brokers might be helpful for people to search for the best health care option for their family.

Independent consultants can be found through the website of the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Professionals or by Googling “employee benefits consultants near me.”

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In front of an Olympic venue, her phone camera hovers over the Olympic pin. The link appears and she selects her language, scans the landing page, and then decides she’d like to chat live with someone. Hesitatingly, she types “Hello” and waits.

From there, a conversation starts, diving into the “Who am I” question she and so many people grapple with today.

Thousands of people from across the globe will descend on Paris for the Olympics. The IMB is looking for digital responders who might be able to point to the answer. Learn more at IMB.com.

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Tennessee pastor Adam Dooley says Jesus’ death on the cross is a reason for believers to be a part of a local church.

The book of Hebrews reads like a sermon about the sacrificial work of Jesus on the cross, with a main point of emphasis on the access we have to God the Father through Christ the Son. Hebrews 10:19 says we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus. As a result, we are told to hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering (Hebrews 10:23). In other words, individual believers faithfully worship the Lord because Jesus made it possible.

Immediately after assuring that God invites all Christians into His presence, the writer of Hebrews admonishes the faithful to gather in local churches in order to worship God together. Doing so motivates us to love and good works (Hebrews 10:24).

Believers should not forsake our assembling together with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). The progression here is instructive. Because God welcomes our individual access to His presence, the right response is to gather corporately as a unified body in order to magnify His grace toward us.